308 Parking Light/Headlight Modification Question

Perfect - Exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks !

 

On my 85 Euro QV I can turn on the parking lights on without the headlights up. Is this a issue on US cars? I have never modified the car for this.

 

Mine does the same.

 

I don't know if it's a US car issue or if it's just an older model issue. The car I modded is a '77 US version.

 

Same for my 84 Euro QV - it appears this was standard on at least the Euro QVs, don't know about earlier Euro cars. Maybe someone would check out the wiring diagram for a Euro QV to see how the Ferrari factory achieved this!

 

Yes Mine (84 euro QV) is the same. Rotate the light switch on the stork and the parking lights come on. It's not untill you pull the stork down that the light buckets pop up

 

Mine is a 1978 Euro GTB (dry sump) and it pop the headlights when turning on the parkinglights.

 

BTW, I was just reading this thread and one of the concerns was that you could potentially accidentally leave your parking lights on and you wouldn't have the obvious indicator of your headlights being raised. That was indeed a problem and concern of mine.

Here's a link to the thread about a warning buzzer for your lights. https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/parking-light-mod-with-a-twist-headlight-warning-buzzer.482291/

It was a really simple and elegant solution and I popped it into my car. The little radio shack buzzer that I got was pretty attention getting, so most of the time, the threat of hearing it was what reminded me to turn off the lights. Every so often that little sucker would get me though...

 

That's a good idea David. I have accidentally turned on or left my parking lights on in the past. Luckily, I caught it before the battery was dead.

 

For just this reason I installed a buzzer so if my keys are removed and the lights are on the buzzer goes on.

 

Aus delivered '85 QV - buckets go up on park... until I hot-rodded it.

 

IIRC, having a "flashing" function is also involved. On US cars (without dedicated front fog/flashing lights), the buckets need to be up to have something to quickly flash when only the parking lights are "on". If you disable the buckets, the low beams might still flash with just the parking lights "on" -- but just at the ground , or the buckets might try to come up but that's way too slow for flashing (I can't recall, and might depend on just how the buckets are disabled).

 

If you are referring to the "flash to pass", the buckets come up and then lower when you pull the headlight lever. At least that's what happened when I did the above listed mod on my '77. If you are referring to the emergency flashers, the parking lights and rear lights flash. I don't know if the headlights are flashing with lowered buckets. I never thought to check. But it's kind of funny to think about...

 

On my 85 Euro QV, when you pull the stalk back for flash to pass, the driving lights in the grill light up. The headlights stay down. I agree with Steve that raising the buckets would be too slow for this.

 

Oh it's definitely too slow. First time I did it I absolutely cracked up. I was flashing an oncoming car to warn them that they might want to slow down a little unless they wanted to donate to the law enforcement officer that was about a mile in front of him. I pulled the flash and my headlights awoke from their slumber and raised the alarm. I think the poor guy was probably in the next county before my lights actually were fully up.

 

Yes, I think that behavior is related to the modification that you made. I just reviewed the US version '78-79 308B/S schematic, and it indicates that the stock behavior is (and I'd be surprised if a stock US '77 wasn't the same):

1. headlight knob not rotated regardless of lever position = headlight buckets down. Pull stalk = nothing happens.
2. headlight knob rotated "on" with lever in "headlights off" position = headlight buckets up, all headlights "off'. Pull stalk = low (dipped) beam headlights flash.
3. headlight knob rotated "on" with lever in "low (dipped) beam" position = headlight buckets up, low (dipped) beam headlights "on". Pull stalk = low (dipped) beam headlights flash a little bit brighter.
4. headlight knob rotated "on" with lever in "high (main) beam" position = headlight buckets up, high (main) beam headlights "on". Pull stalk = low (dipped) beam headlights flash.

Could you please report the same results on your modified system for those same 4 conditions when pulling the stalk? (And that applies to anyone who would like to contribute, just please give year/version/model and whether stock or modified.)

 

For '77 GTB S/N 22963 which I believe to be Stock: 1,2,and 3 are as above. 4 however, blinks often when the High Beam is asked for. Both when it is switched to High Beam, and when it is "Flashed" to High Beam. It seems I might have intermittent contact(?). Fiddling with the lever helps bring it back from Off to Bright.

 

In Sweden we have had mandatory DRL:s since 80:s. The parking light are not OK and i do not want to drive with the pods up to please the sheriff.
It was popular back then to use these Talmu yellow lamps which were OK to use as DRL:s.
Found a new set of these and assembled behind the grille, wired so that they and parking lights light when ignition is on.
A relay and a diode so when i turn the light switch to parking or main lights (pods up on -85 Euro QV) the yellow ones go off.
Sorry for the Porger, only picture i have running with the yellows when we were footed to a Swedish car magazine.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
///TRS

 

I tried LED's in the parking lights but found they were too bright (at least the ones I bought) they made the rears look pink and the fronts almost white. After doing the bucket mod with the diodes I think that using those LED bulbs in the front parking sockets with the clear lens Euro caps would make pretty decent DRL's or flash-to-pass lights. You could probably even get brighter ones than the ones I got without worrying about the heat.

 

I used a different mod for my 85 US car involving two momentary contact switches and a relay.
One button activates the relay which turns on just the parking lights.
The other button deactivates the relay.
The buttons are hidden in the top of the little alcove on the left side of the steering column in my LHD car.
Advantage is when car is turned off the relay is also de-energized thus turning off the parking lights automatically.

 

Do you by any chance have the wiring diagram to make this mod ?

 

Sorry for late response, was at the Geneva car show the whole week.
F8 Tributo is, for me anyhow, the best looking V8 since 308 and F355. Ferrari let me in to their fenced show area as a registered owner.
No real diagram, used just a normal 4 pole relay and a diode and some thinking! As i see you are from Denmark so if you google "kopplingsshema varselljus" you find some diagrams. "jord" means ground in Swedish, otherwise they have the standard relay figures.
The flag for copyright so don't attach here.
///TRS

 

Sounds like a good show ;-)

Thanks for Your reply. I will try to figure out how to connect the DRL's the parkinglights, without having the pods go up. That will be the biggest issue. Or else I simply have to manually put in a switch for the relay that makes the pods go up. I'll try to figure something out.

 

That's how I wired mine, except I used the aerial switch. A very nice mod

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Anybody that by any chance has a wiring diagram. Especially the part about the lightning system and relays ?

I found this .pdf file, but it's not very clear/detailed. Hard to see what's going on :-(

http://ferrari.cdyn.com/ferrari_docs/81_308wiring.pdf